Tennis Stars (Ryoga x Reader)

Doubles

The match began.
I moved up to the net and Ryoga stood in the back. I flashed a smirk at Ryoma who was at net too. He frowned at me and then Ryoga served next to my head. I didn't even flinch as it was sent whizzing by my head.
"Ace!" Horio shrieked. I had recently learned that Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo were some of his annoying friends. But the ones who cheered the loudest were the two girls watching us now. Tomoko and Sakuno. Sakuno was Ryuzaki's granddaughter and a rather quiet girl.
Ryoga and I took the first game easily with only his serves. His normal serves, may I add.
Momo-senpai and Ryoma were doing something they called the Two Guardian Method. A bunch of grunts and noises. Embarrassing and not effective. I saw through it right away and signed behind my back to Ryoga. Sign language. I hope he still remembers it after a year.
And then Ryoma got serious. He pulled out a twist serve to have it blocked by Ryoga and then Momo-senpai did a dunk smash that I returned easily. Years of training had strengthened me physically and mentally.
I moved to the back of the court and waited for Ryoga to get into position. We both stood on the center line.
"Australian Formation!" Horio shouted. The other club members were whispering about who they thought was going to win. Some were even placing bets.
"I think Echizen's going to win!" Horio said confidently. I clicked my tongue impatiently as I waited for the match to resume.
"You can't boast about it like you're going to win, Horio-san," Kachiro said, rolling his eyes.
"I am not!" Horio retorted.
The others just watched our match and ignored them.

I tossed the ball up with my right hand and then hit a sharp and hard twist serve in Momo-senpai's face with my left hand.
"I see you've taught yourself how to play right handed while we were away," Ryoga said.
"Yep," I said with a grin as I returned a twist serve from Ryoma. "It was rather hard. I'm dominate in my left hand. My right hand is okay. But my left hand's better. By a lot."
"Well, tomorrow we'll have to see who's the better player now," Ryoga grinned as he glanced back at me and then returned another volley. "Let's see who's better after a month without eachother."
"You left me for a year," I retorted, my temper growing. His grin faded.
"That long?" Ryoga asked quietly, missing an easy point.
"Yes. You and Ryoma both. But at least Ryoma remember how long we were away from eachother," I scowled.
"Y/N," Ryoga said quietly, his smirk gone. "I'm sorry. I truly am. Forgive me. Please. I was in a prison camp. I couldn't tell day or night. I couldn't even tell the time. It was so far up by the North Pole, that the sun didn't rise. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to go, Y/N. You know they sent me away. We can't keep hiding from the past forever, Y/N."
"I'm not hiding from my past. I faced it three years ago," I scowled, walking off the court. I turned a corner and then walked mindlessly away from the court. Away from my problems. Away from my friends. Away from Ryoga.

Ryoga Echizen P.O.V

I watched as she walked away from the match, from the court. I don't get it. I didn't say anything too harsh.
"Ryoga," Ryoma said as he came up to me. "You know what you did, right?"
"No, Ryoma," I said. "I don't." I sighed, defeated. I was clueless about this sort of stuff. Sixteen and never experienced a girl walking out on me before. Nobody but Y/N.
"I'll tell you what you did," Ryoma said. "You brought up her past. You know she already faced her past. Her mother's death, Ryoga. Remember that? She confessed to us before we left why she had quit playing tennis when she was seven. She already faced her past by playing tennis again. She could go pro, Ryoga. You hurt her deeper than you meant to. You two love bantering back and forth and insulting each other even if you are double partners, but you took it too far this time. You need to find her, apologize to her, and then make sure to bite your tongue when speaking to her. Make sure no insults come out, and nothing about her past."
"What about her past?" Eiji asked, coming up to us.
Ryoma hesitated before answering him.
"Her mother died when she was seven. In a tennis match. Her competition was sort of like Akaya to Tachibani-san from team Fudomine. Remember him, he was the captain. And Akaya had broken his ankle. He had purposely aimed his attacks at Tachibani-san. It's sort of like that with Y/N's mother. except her opponent was aiming to kill rather than injure," Ryoma explained.
Even Eiji had nothing to say to that, and I knew he was the most cheerful and peppy person on the team. Everyone was silent and staring at us. Well, all the regulars. We didn't let anyone else know. Not even Ryoma's friends.
"Her mom was killed in a tennis match?" Eiji finally said with disbelief. "How? There's nobody out there strong enough except for pros and national levels."
"She was a pro tennis player," I said. "She was going against the top pro of all time. I remember hearing Y/N saying that she would destroy him when she got strong enough. She started playing tennis again after she met us. She was a little rusty at it, but she quickly got the hang of it again. She's a quick learner. Fast, smart, strong, perfect." I said.
"It almost sounds as if you're in love with her," Ryoma drawled. Eiji smiled at that. Momoshiro laughed. Tezuka remained as silent as ever. Fuji smiled wider. Oishi laughed, Taka-san laughed as well. And then Kaido walked away in the direction that Y/N had gone in.